


Ghost In The Shell

by SuicideSquadGirl13



Category: Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi
Genre: Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Awkward Dates, Cybernetics, Cyberpunk, Dating, Eventual Romance, Falling In Love, Future, Love, M/M, Multi, Science Experiments, Slow Burn, Slow Dancing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-05-13
Packaged: 2018-10-23 09:30:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10716726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuicideSquadGirl13/pseuds/SuicideSquadGirl13
Summary: In the near future man and machine work as one, and advancements in technology are constantly testing the limitations of what we can do. Yokozawa is one such experiment, he's the first of his kind. A human brain in a synthetic body, he is tasked with learning how to adapt to the society around him. Although he is capable of independent thought he never feels truly human. That is until Kirishima Zen starts working on the same team that is monitoring him and teaches Yokozawa what it's like to live life to the fullest.





	1. Experiment Y-34051

“Y-34051? C…you….me?” A distorted voice said.

A blurred face came to view after a few blinks the face wasn’t as distorted as it was before. A man with jet black hair and golden hazel eyes stood over them. They blinked a few more times before attempting to look around before they heard the distorted voice talk again.

“C…you…me? Resp…lease.” The voice said.

They looked over to the man blinking before shaking their head. The man laid their head back before they felt a sharp pain in the back of their head.

“Can you hear me now?” The man said.

They nod.

“Good, we haven’t installed your voice yet,” the man said to them before looking at them with a small smile. “You’re a miracle you know that?”

They tilted their head at the man as he continued to talk. “you're first of your kind, you’re going to help a lot of people Y-34051.”

Sudden tapping was heard in the room, they looked around with their eyes but the man said, “I need to give you a sedative for now, but I’ll be here when you wake up.”

They blinked a little frighten before the man shushed them softly and they fell back into darkness.

On the other hand, Takano Masamune walks into the other room to find Isaka and his assistant Asahina staring at his team’s hard work. “So, what do you think?”

“This is amazing,” Isaka commented turning towards Takano “When will it be fully operational?”

“In a day, two the latest,” Takano said looking over at his creation before feeling a slight twinge in his heart.

It must have shown on his face because Asahina said “We’re very sorry to hear about Doctor Yokozawa Takafumi. I’m sure he’d be proud of the work you were able to accomplish.”

Takano didn’t respond at first before saying quietly. “It’s his brain.”

Isaka then looked at Takano his eyes violet dilating and re-adjusting. “Excuse me?”

Takano inhaled before repeating himself. “The brain inside that body is Doctor Takafumi’s.”

“I didn’t authorize you to use a live human brain,” Isaka said.

“The dead brains were rejected by the body,” Takano said “And they were too damaged before Yokozawa died he requested I used his brain to help achieve this goal. I have his written and verbal consent if you need it for legal purposes.”

Isaka and Asahina looked at each other. “Send the consent forms to my office.”

“Understood,” Takano said looking at the body on the table “What are your plans for it?”

“I want it to learn to be human,” Isaka replied.

Takano raised an eyebrow. “That uncharacteristic of you. I’m a bit suspicion.”

“I’m trying to switch the company over to more humanitarian production, not weapons like my father,” Isaka said, “I’ve been trying since day one.”

“Is that why my section got extra funding?” Takano asked.

“Hai, I trust you’ll make progress with all the extra money I’m throwing your way,” Isaka said.

“We will,” Takano replied as Isaka and Asahina took their leave.

Takano looked through the glass again at the body on the table. “Don’t worry Takafumi, I won’t let our hard work go to waste.”

-

**_A year later…_ **

Takano dialed the same number on his cell phone for the eighth time today starting to get a little worried, the phone went straight to voicemail again.

“Hey it’s me again, you're very late for your check up,” Takano said, “I’ll have to report this to Isaka, please attempt to show up today.”

After Takano hung up Hatori walked into the room. “Takano, he’s here.”

Takano mentally sighed in relief before nodding to Hatori to send him in. Takano careful laid out some probing instruments before he heard footsteps behind him. “Your late Yokozawa.”

He then turns around to give Yokozawa a stern look but stop seeing him. He looked exactly like his old friend down to the bone structure, the only difference was the mind inside the body. Ever since Yokozawa was made he had childlike wondered about the world around him and had no problem asking questions. The only thing that reminded Takano of his old friend was the banter they sometimes exchanged.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” Yokozawa said.

He even sounds like him, Takano thought to himself. “Why weren’t you answering your phone?”

“I left at home today,” Yokozawa said tilting his head.

“You know the rules Yokozawa,” Takano said, “Keep your phone on you at all times.”

Yokozawa didn’t respond, so Takano snapped his fingers and point to the examination table. “Come on you know the drill.”

Yokozawa walked forward before slowly stripping himself down to a tank top and boxers, he then sat on the examination table waiting patiently for instructions. Takano looked at his tablet before asking basic questions.

“How many hours of sleep have you gotten in the past week?” Takano asked.

“Twenty,” Yokozawa responded.

Takano’s brows furrowed in confusion. “That’s even fewer hours than last time, you suppose to get 40-60 hours of sleep through the week.”

“I’ve been staying up later,” Yokozawa answered.

“For what purpose?” Takano asked looking back at Yokozawa.

“I’ve been exploring Tokyo’s nightlife,” Yokozawa said, “I’ve always been curious.”

Takano sighed making note of that. “How many times have you eaten?”

“Five,” Yokozawa replied.

Takano sighed getting frustrated. “Yokozawa, I’m aware that you don’t need food for extended periods of time but at least try to eat three meals a day at the designated times.”

Yokozawa started to smile and give a cheeky respond that Takano was ready for. “And no eating cake for breakfast lunch and dinner isn’t food.”

Yokozawa then frowned staying silent, Takano rolled his eyes before asking “How much human interaction have you had this week?”

Yokozawa blinked his eyes readjust slightly trying to recall an exact number. “I’ve had three instances of human interaction, four if I include you.”

Takano sighed again, even though Yokozawa was built for human interaction, he acted more like an anti-social teenager. “Yokozawa…”

“I don’t like interacting with people I don’t know,” Yokozawa stated adamantly.

Ok, he may have some social anxiety as well, Takano thought to himself. He needed to find a way to get around that, but he knew Yokozawa would object to being reprogrammed. So he just went onto the next question.

“Have you had an encounter of a sexual nature?” Takano reads before he clamped his mouth shut. He usually skipped this questions and others like it because nor he or his team ever bother to explain sex to Yokozawa, well there was the one time Kisa but Takano stepped in before he psychological damage him.

“What does that mean?” Yokozawa asked as he tilted to the side slightly his eyes dilating in curiosity.

“Never mind, I explain later,” Takano said waving him off, he almost hurt by seeing the hurt look on Yokozawa’s face but he really didn’t want to have a conversation about the birds and bees with an adult android. “Lie back for the physical examination.”

Yokozawa complied with the order and lied back on the table. Takano elevated it slightly before plugging a jack into the back of Yokozawa’s head to get a diagnostic on what was going on inside his mind. Yokozawa eyelids flutter slightly as the jack was plugged in, Takano then brought some instruments closer to him before he careful placed a hand on Yokozawa left leg.

“Ok, bend your leg please,” Takano said.

Yokozawa did so and Takano took note of the reflex before setting Yokozawa leg back to its original position. “Same for the other one.”

Yokozawa again compiled, Takano found nothing out of the ordinary before double checking the joints and setting the leg back down. Takano then set an apple in Yokozawa’s left hand.

“Flex and move your left arm please,” Takano said.

Yokozawa grasped the apple before moving his arm towards him and away from him. Takano satisfied with the result marked it down, before taking the apple out of Yokozawa left hand and placing it on the right.

“Flex and move your right arm please,” Takano repeated.

"It hurts to do so," Yokozawa replied.

"That's what you get for not taking care of yourself," Takano mumbled but Yokozawa heard him.

Yokozawa looked over to Takano blinking his eyes for a moment. "You're irritated, is it because of me?"

Takano sighed. “How did you hurt your arm?”

“It got caught in between two rocks,” Yokozawa replied as he felt Takano detach his arm and open the inside.

Takano looked down in confusion. “Yokozawa, what were you doing?”

“Scuba diving,” Yokozawa replied.

Takano looked up even more confused. “Why?”

“I like it,” Yokozawa responded simply.

“Well, you tore some of the inner muscles that’s mostly like why you were in pain,” Takano said grabbing a tool and a small blow torch. Yokozawa watched as he repaired the muscles before reattaching the arm.

“How does that feel,” Takano asked hearing the arm click back into place.

“Better,” Yokozawa responded making an open and close fist.

“Good, I’m just going to check your brain activity then your good to go,” Takano said picking up his tablet. Takano was checking Yokozawa’s memory data when he saw something in the coding that didn’t look right.

“Yokozawa, there are a few glitches in your system,” Takano said looking over the data.

“I was downloading information, I ran into a bad virus that I managed to escape,” Yokozawa said.

“It left a few glitches in your system,” Takano said fixing what he could “I’ll fix what I can but I’m going to need you to take some medication to get rid of the rest of coding.”

Yokozawa just nodded slightly as Takano got out a small box of capsule tubes with a yellow-ish orange liquid inside it. “Take these twice a day for the next week.”

“Do I have to drink them?” Yokozawa asked grimacing.

“No, you shake them up and put them in the back of your head,” Takano said before doing it for Yokozawa after he unplugged the jack.

Yokozawa blinked rapidly at the sensation before relaxing. “Are we done?”

“Yes,” Takano replied, “And please try to come on time next week.”

“I will,” Yokozawa said putting his clothes back on before grabbing the medicine and leaving.

When Yokozawa left, Takano picked up his tablet before opening a recently download file of his memories. Takano had been downloading Yokozawa’s memories to see if he had been properly assimilating with the society around him. This week however Yokozawa had over 90 hours of memory footage. Takano sighed to himself, it was going to a long week processing all those memories.

-

“See you next week Yokozawa-san,” Kisa said to Yokozawa giving him a friendly smile.

Yokozawa smiled back before walking out the building and in the direction of his apartment. He was thinking about what he should eat tonight since he didn’t plan on sleeping. Lately, he didn’t like sleeping and if he did it was almost restless. So Yokozawa need new activities to occupy his time, he was fully aware he was just an experiment but he had his own thoughts and mindset when it came to things.

“Yokozawa!” A voice shouted from behind him.

Yokozawa turned his head to see Henmi a human with cybernetic enhancements whom he had frequent conversations with.

Yokozawa gave a half smile to him. “Good afternoon Henmi, how are you today?” 

Henmi practically beamed at Yokozawa. “I finally got my cybernetic eyes, see?”

Yokozawa looked at Henmi’s eyes, his cybernetics looked like normal eyeballs but they would adjust and re-adjust frequently for unobstructed vision.

“Good for you,” Yokozawa replied, he could tell Henmi was excited about his new eyes.

“I also got a new liver,” Henmi said lifting his shirt a little to show the surgery scar “So now, I’m not so much of a lightweight now.”

“Light…weight?” Yokozawa asked confused “I’m not familiar with that term.”

“Oh, right sorry,” Henmi said pulling down his shirt “Lightweight refers to a person who can’t hold their liquor.”

“And Liquor refers to distilled alcohol humans can drink correct,” Yokozawa asked Henmi for clarification.

“That’s right,” Henmi said giving Yokozawa an affectionate pat on the arm “See your learning, you’ll be human in no time.”

“Thanks, Henmi,” Yokozawa replied.

“Let’s go for drinks, it on me,” Henmi said.

“Not this time Henmi,” Yokozawa responded “Will you take a raincheck? Is that the correct term?”

“Correct term, the wrong way to say it,” Henmi told him “But I’ll hold you to next, later!”

“Goodbye,” Yokozawa said giving him a small wave as he continued to his apartment building.

Yokozawa started going over the list of things he had to do but Henmi’s sentence was constant replaying in his head. ‘ _You’ll be human in no time_.’ Yokozawa was acutely aware he wasn’t completely human just his brain, everything else was synthetic. He tried to act as human as possible but he still had a challenging time interacting with total strangers, it was a statically anomaly that Henmi was acquainted with him but it was nice none the less. Yokozawa walked upstairs to the apartment where he was greeted by his cat Sorata.

“Hey there, let’s get you feed,” Yokozawa said quietly petting the small animal.

He then proceeded to make his cat a gourmet tuna dinner, Yokozawa knew it was a bit over the top but since he didn’t really need to eat, he wanted to make sure his pet well-nourished in case he accidently forgot one day. Yokozawa then set the bowl contain fresh tuna, salmon with a hint of lemon down in front of the cat before heading to his bedroom. Yokozawa stripped down to his boxers before getting the medicine out of his pocket shaking it up and inserting it into the two holes in the back of his head near his neck. His eyelid fluttered involuntary at the unpleasant feeling before he changed his clothes into scuba diving gear.

“Sorata, I’m going out,” Yokozawa said to his cat as he left once again to go to the nearby river.

Yokozawa carefully strapped the oxygen tank to his back and put his mask on before diving under the water. Yokozawa blinked his eyes open seeing the peaceful ocean floor, he then swam around slowly feeling himself relax. The ocean floor was always peaceful and calm, Yokozawa stopped swimming and let himself float slowing breaking the surface off the water. He stared up at the night sky, his eyes readjusting slightly. This was calming, and kept his mind clear after interactions with others. He started thinking about Henmi’s words again, you’ll be human in no time…so did that mean he was almost human? All of this thinking was causing his head to hurt. Yokozawa then swam to shore before walking home still dripping wet. He walked through his front door before walking directly to his bedroom to change, he toweled himself off making sure there was no water left on his skin before he opens his closet door. After staring blanking at his clothing for a few minutes he decided on a black tank top and gray sweatpants, he slowly puts them on before he lies on his bed staring out the window.

“Almost human…” Yokozawa says to himself before closing his eyes “I’m almost human…”

-

_He didn’t like the way these people were staring at him, it made him self-conscious and he hated it. He didn’t like being treated like an object, granted he was technically property but they could at least exercise caution around him. We’re they even aware of how he feels or what he’s thinking?_

_“Y-34051?” A man with sandy brown hair that is normally referred to as Hatori started speaking to him “Y-34051, we’re trying to run a few diagnostics tests, we need you to cooperate.”_

_Y-34051…that his name, but he hated it. It sounded so disconnected, so cold…no emotion behind it. Was he even capable of emotions? He knew from Takano that his brain was completely human, so he can learn and be taught certain behaviors, but he wasn’t sure._

_“Y-34051? Why are you not responding?” Hatori asked before he prodded his arm with something sharp causing him to react harshly, He smacked Hatori’s hand away from him much to the scientist’s surprise._

_“That hurt!” He exclaimed glaring at Hatori. “Why did you do that?”_

_“You weren’t responding verbally to me,” Hatori said, “So I tested to see if you would respond to other stimuli.”_

_He continued to glare at him. “I could hear you perfectly, but I didn’t want to respond.”_

_This seems to shock Hatori as well as some of the other people in the room who were monitoring him. He’s never felt more objectified in his existence so he speaks up about._

_“Quit staring at me like that,” He says, “I hate it when you do that.”_

_Sudden the door opened and footsteps could be heard making their way across the floor. He turns his head slightly to see Takano with his hands in his lab coat pockets quietly watching them._

_“Could you give us a moment, you can continue the tests later Hatori,” Takano said._

_Hatori bowed before signaling for the others to follow him, leaving them alone in the room. He heard Takano walk in front of him and pull up a chair. They stay silent for a few moments before Takano asks. “Will you tell me how your feeling?”_

_He blinks, his eyes readjust out of nervousness. “Uncomfortable.”_

_“Physically, Mentally, or Emotionally,” Takano asked calmly._

_“All of the above,” He replied, “I feel like an object…property…you acknowledge that I’m capable of independent thought yet you do not exercise caution around me.”_

_“I’m sorry,” Takano said sounding sincere “What would you like?”_

_He wanted them to stop staring at him as well as the poking and prodding but he knew they need the information. So instead he said, “I want a name.”_

_“Excuse me?” Takano asked confused._

_“Everyone I interact with is cold and distance,” He said, “I hate being called by my serial number, I want a name that refers to me as a being, not an object.”_

_Takano nods. “Did you have anything in mind?”_

_He blinked before looking up at Takano. “Yokozawa. I want to be named Yokozawa.”_

_Takano looks shocked. “May I ask why?”_

_“Because, it’s the name of the person who gave me my brain,” He says._


	2. Life's Branching Paths (Or Life Lesson with Yukina)

Yokozawa blinked his eyes open at he woke at 4:30 in the morning. He slowly sat up and stretched before his eyes readjusted to the darkness of his apartment. Yokozawa looked over at the time before getting out of bed and slipping on some clothes before he grabbed a blank art canvas and some paint and headed up to the roof of his apartment through the fire escape. As he climbed onto the roof he detected another organic being there and soon found his neighbor asleep on the roof.

“Yukina?” Yokozawa said watching as the twenty-two-year-old man flailed about before noticing the android.

Yukina smiled brightly at Yokozawa. “Oh, Morning Yokozawa-san, how are you?”

“I’m not sure,” Yokozawa answered honestly “Objectively, I’m fine.”

“That’s good,” Yukina said stretching.

“We’re you out here all night?” Yokozawa asked setting up his canvas and paints.

“Oh, yeah. The stars were out and I just had to paint them,” Yukina replied looking over to the three canvas’s he had laid out “I couldn’t help it. You should camp out with me sometime.”

Yokozawa was about to decline like always but this time, he decided to answer differently. “Alright then, when shall we…camp out?”

Yukina brightens up at the respond. “How about tomorrow night? The moon will be out then too!”

“Ok,” Yokozawa said nodding giving Yukina a half smile before his attention was stolen but the sun rising. Yokozawa then started painting the sun coming up over the city, he started painting and drawing thanks to Yukina. When they had originally met, it was when Yokozawa was first moving in, but they didn’t really get acquainted until Yokozawa started spending his mornings on the roof of the building where he found the young art student like to spend most of his time. After that it became a more frequent occurrence, soon Yukina started teaching him about art and drawing before buying Yokozawa some art supplies and telling him to draw to his heart’s content. Yokozawa didn’t understand why Yukina was so kind to him, but he learned over time that Yukina like Henmi valued his companionship.

“Hey Yokozawa, how did your checkup go?” Yukina asked as he started painting again.

“I have a small virus I need to take medication for,” Yokozawa responded not stopping what he was doing.

“Oh no, did you get it from the file I sent you?” Yukina asked again “I’m sorry, I didn’t run it through an anti-virus software protection software before giving it to you. Is your coding messed up?”

“A little but it’s not bad enough to hurt me,” Yokozawa replied hoping to put Yukina at ease “I also fixed my arm.”

“What was wrong with your arm?” Yukina asked confused.

“I hurt it scuba diving,” Yokozawa said mixing together some colors.

“Ah, you’re really adventurous, aren’t you?” Yukina said with a smile before groping around blindly for his thermos. Yukina finally grabbed something and was about to drink it when Yokozawa’s arm shot out and grabbed his.

“Yukina, you’re about to drink paint,” Yokozawa said “Not coffee.”

“Oh, thanks, Yokozawa,” Yukina said putting the paint can down before picking up his actual thermos and drinking from it before offering some to Yokozawa. “Coffee? It’s Columbia.”

“No thanks,” Yokozawa replied, “I don’t need to drink or eat.”

“Lucky,” Yukina responded, “I’ve gain the freshman fifteen, or twenty in my case.”

“You're still perfectly healthy,” Yokozawa said.

“Oh, I know, it’s a body image thing,” Yukina said putting the finishing touches on his sunrise “And there!”

Yokozawa looked over to Yukina canvas to see a sunrise but instead of red, orange and yellow colors with was blue, purple with a hint of pink. “You used assorted colors?”

“Of course, art’s not black and white,” Yukina said before noticing Yokozawa’s confusion “There’s no one way to do any thing, you don’t have to use the same colors you see, you can put your own spin on things.”

Yokozawa looked down at his own sunrise which had the normal red, orange and yellow perfectly blended in the sky rising over the city. “I’ve always been told things are linear, and any change is an outlier.”

It took Yukina a minute to process the science jargon but when he did, he said “It might work that way in science or technology but everything has a branch path that can go either way. That’s what life is, it unpredictable.”

Yokozawa looked over to Yukina absorbing what he said before nothing the art student was half way asleep and was struggling to keep his eyes open. “I think you should rest Yukina.”

“Yeah,” Yukina yawned “I have work later today, I need the sleep.”

Yokozawa helps Yukina bring his art supplies back to his apartment when Yukina sudden exclaimed. “Crap, I forgot! I wanted to go to that art again for new supplies. I guess I’ll have to sleep later.”

Yokozawa knowing that it was unhealthy for Yukina to stay up any longer stopped him. “I can go if really need them.”

“Huh? No, Yokozawa-san that be asking too much of you,” Yukina replied, “It’s halfway across town as well, I’m sure you're busy.”

“I…” Yokozawa tried to think before coming up with an excuse “I need to go on that side of town anyway, and I wanted to buy some new art supplies too.”

“You were?” Yukina asked in disbelief.

Yokozawa nodded going along with the lie. “Yes, if you have a list of the things you need I can go and get them while I’m over there.”

Lucky for Yokozawa, Yukina’s tired brain didn’t probe any further. Yukina handed Yokozawa a list of art supplies he needs. “I should be awake by the time you get back. Thank you so much Yokozawa.”

“No problem,” Yokozawa said heading back to his own apartment only to have Sorata weaving through his legs purring. “I should feed you before I go.”

Yokozawa went into his refrigerator before taking inventory as he got out ingredients for Sorata’s breakfast. He might as well go groceries shopping while he was out, he cooked a full salmon for his cat before chopping it up into bite size pieces before serving it to the feline. Seeing that Sorata was content with the food, Yokozawa when back into his room to change into something more casual for going outside before he settled on a plain black long sleeved shirt and blue jeans. Yokozawa grabbed his cell phone, wallet, and key before noticing the medicine he was supposed to take on his nightstand, he sighed to himself before shaking up a vile and inserting it into the back of his head. His eyes flutter once again at feeling before Yokozawa went on his way.

As soon as Yokozawa stepped out onto the busy street he noticed some clouds hung over that wasn't there this morning. Maybe he should have checked the weather forecast before he left his apartment, Yokozawa temporary split his vision as he made his way to the train station to find that it was supposed to rain but not until late afternoon. He then restored his vision to normal just as his phone started vibrating indicating he had a call, it was Henmi. Yokozawa answered it before switch the commination link to his head to he could talk to Henmi with speaking aloud.

“Good morning Henmi,” Yokozawa said.

“Hello Yokozawa-san,” Henmi said “I wanted to know if you were available today. Just to hang out, we don’t have to leave your apartment.”

Yokozawa thought about it for a moment before telling Henmi. “Sure, want to come around dinner time?”

“Works for me,” Henmi replied, “I’ll see you then.”

Yokozawa was glad he decided to go grocery shopping while he was out. He then looked out the window seeing the bright neon colors of the city before his memory was temporarily triggered. He’d had been here before but not with Yukina or Henmi when had first snuck out of Marukawa Robotics. Yokozawa had to bite back a laugh at the memory, it was quite funny to think about.

-

_Everything was so bright and colorful, compared to what Yokozawa was used to seeing every day. Yokozawa knew he wasn’t supposed to leave the facility but he was curious as what the world outside his white walls looked like. So, he studied the lay out of the building a few days before, stole some of Takano and Hatori’s clothes, managed to drug Mino, and bribed Kisa to look the other way for a few moments as he walked through the front door of the building. Yokozawa didn’t really have a destination in mind since he had never been outside before, but just decided to walk in a random direction wherever it may lead him. Yokozawa was sure he was experiencing sensory overload at all the new sights and sounds he was taken in at once, it’s made him a little dizzy since he was trying to filter through everything, then sudden the noise and bright light’s stop. Yokozawa blinked looking at his surroundings to find he was in a park with sakura trees blooming all around him. He looked around in amazement at bright pink color’s and the green grass beneath him, he slowly walked around taking in the natural scene around him before seeing the river. Curious, Yokozawa walked over seeing more over the city on the other side, he rested his head on the palm of his hand watching peacefully. But it just made him wonder why Takano and the others have never taken him outside before, why was he always confided to the wall of Marukawa. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t hear the numerous armored S.W.A.T cars pull up a few meters away, what brought him out of thought were the helicopter the sudden roar over his head shiny bright lights on him. Yokozawa blinked confused before men in body armor surround him with weapons trained on him. Sudden he felt a high voltage electrical shock hit him in his side bringing him to his knees in pain, he found out later it was a tranquilized bullet meant to put him to sleep but he wasn’t sure he believed that account. He then felt someone send shockwaves up his spine causing his vision to glitch out as he fell to the ground. Yokozawa knew he had blackout temporarily as they took him back to Marukawa, he came to for a moment to hear someone angrily shouting before he faded out again._

_When he was finally coherent enough to take in his surrounds he found himself on a familiar operating table with a monitor and scanning his brain activity. As Yokozawa sat up he noticed the jack plugged into the back of his head, he touched it carefully before he heard three pairs of footstep walking outside the room. He had a feeling he knew who it was so he just turned his head as Takano, Hatori, and a person he couldn’t recognize stepped into the room. Takano didn’t look happy, Hatori had his stoic expression, and the person Yokozawa didn’t know just looked…amused…it was a bit unsettling. No one said anything for a moment so Yokozawa decided to speak up._

_“I’m in trouble, aren’t I?” Yokozawa said._

_“You think!?” Takano exclaims causing the android to flinch. “Yokozawa, what were you thinking!? Sneaking out like that!? Do you know how much money in resources we spent looking for you!?”_

_“I…I have a tracking implant, don’t I?” Yokozawa asked knowing fully well that he had disabled it before leaving._

_“You do, but it was temporarily offline,” Hatori replied, “When Kisa managed to get it back online, guess where we found you?”_

_“I don’t know,” Yokozawa answered honestly since he didn’t even know where he was or how he got there._

_“You showed up half way across town over the damn river!” Takano said angrily causing Yokozawa to bow his head “Yokozawa, you cannot be doing things like this! What if another company capture you, or worst you could have been sold on the black market!? Do you even know how valuable you are!?”_

_“Shut up! I know I’m just an asset for your own personal gain!” Yokozawa suddenly exclaimed having enough of the angry words being thrown at him. After he said that the room went quietly with noticeable tension hanging in the air. Yokozawa had covered his mouth after his outburst waiting for an emotional blow or a command to strip whatever freedoms he had when the unknow person started chuckling._

_“Well, he’s not wrong Takano,” The man said making his way over to Yokozawa “You were working on this project in hopes of getting a Nobel peace prize if I recall.”_

_“Isaka now is not the time to discuss that,” Takano said pinching the bridge of his nose “We have to lay some ground rules down about this…”_

_“About what?” Isaka said amused “He just went exploring for a bit, and he wasn’t harmed…”_

_“My left side and spine hurt from the electric shock,” Yokozawa stated._

_“Ok, maybe a little harm, but this is a good thing,” Isaka said “He’s already capable of independent thought, as he has so eloquently demonstrated. So, I think you should allow more him more freedom, it will help in the long run.”_

_“He’s not wrong,” Hatori said._

_Takano inhaled through his nose before saying. “Fine, but we need to lay down some serious ground rules.”_

_Isaka suddenly clapped his hands together. “Splendid! Now, I’ve got a meeting to conduct with the SWAT team, it was nice to meet you Yokozawa, I’m out.”_

_After Isaka was out of an ear shot, Yokozawa tilted his head and said “Isaka is very strange.”_

_“You have no idea.” Takano groaned before starting to make repairs to Yokozawa’s body once again._

-

Yokozawa was snapped out of the memory by the doors of the train opening at his stop. He blinked before making himself more aware of his surrounds, then he started off in the direction of the art shop Yukina was so fond of. Yokozawa took another mental catalog of the things he was supposed to get and that he was supposed to duplicate it for himself, he soon found himself walking into the shop looking around, he managed to get all the supplies expect for some acrylic paint that Yukina really liked. He looked around again before spotting it on a shelf higher than him, although Yokozawa was fairly tall standing at 6’2 the shelf was a good few inches above him. Yokozawa temporarily tried to calculate the best way to go about this when he was startled as a hand came into his field of vision and picked up two packs of acrylic paint before handing it to him. Yokozawa turned to look at the person who helped him before he swears all his brain functions stopped.

The man had light brown hair with matching colored eyes and a fair skin tone. He was wearing very casual clothing and had a soft smile on his face. Yokozawa was so distracted he had to blink a few times to process that the man was speaking to him. “I’m sorry?”

“I said, I hope you don’t mind,” He repeated, “But you looked like you needed help.”

“Uh…thank you…I did…” Yokozawa replied. He quickly turned away walking towards the register paying for the supplies before heading outside only to find it was raining. He sighed to himself before the rain suddenly stopped from overhead, Yokozawa looked up to find an umbrella shielding him from the rain.

“Looks like you’re having a difficult day,” a familiar voice said.

Yokozawa turned his head to the side to find the same man before standing beside him. “It would seem so.”

The man chuckled sticking out the hand that wasn’t holding the umbrella. “My name is Kirishima Zen. Nice to meet you.”

Yokozawa shook his hand. “My name is Yokozawa Takafumi.”

Kirishima cocked an eyebrow at him. “That name sounds familiar but I don’t know from where.”

Yokozawa shrugged at Kirishima unsure of how to answer him. Kirishima just shook his head before smiling again. “So where are you headed?”  

“Train station,” Yokozawa said, “I was on my way home.”

“Well, then allow me to escort you,” Kirishima replied as they started walking towards the station. “So, are you an art student?”

“No, I don’t go to school,” Yokozawa responded. “I’m just shopping for…a friend…”

“I see, you must really care about them then,” Kirishima said, “I mean you came all the way out here to get art supplies without an umbrella.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Yokozawa said.

“So, what do you do for a living?” Kirishima asked, “You must have a job then.”

“I don’t have a job,” Yokozawa replied. “I’m not required to work.”

“Really?” Kirishima pondered slightly confused “What are you then?”

“I…” Yokozawa started then stopped not knowing how the respond, but he was thankfully saved by his train pulling into the station “That’s my train, thank you for your kindness Kirishima-san.”

“Oh wait,” Kirishima then fished into his pocket before handing Yokozawa a business card “Call me sometime. You seem like a really interesting person.”

“I…” Yokozawa started before Kirishima winked at him and walk in the other direction leaving Yokozawa slightly speechless.


End file.
